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USU study: 10 signs employees may exhibit before they quit

Editor’s note: Dr. Timothy Gardner, associate professor, has done research to see if employees who are about to leave a job give off recognizable behavioral cues. News stories about his research, sparked by a Huntsman School of Business press release, have aired in a number of publications, on Utah Public Radio, and he has been featured on KUTV and FOX 13 in Salt Lake City. Below is the Salt Lake Tribune story that ran in the newspaper on March 3 and the FOX 13 clip that aired on Feb. 27, 2014.

By Vince Horiuchi

Does the guy in the cubicle next to you always look bored, unengaged and unmotivated? Well, he might be motivated to do one thing ­— look for another job.

Those are just some of the tell-tale signs that an employee is looking to jump ship from the company, according to a new study by Tim Gardner, associate professor of management at Utah State University’s Jon M. Huntsman School of Business.

"When people are thinking about leaving and actively working toward leaving, it’s kind of like leading a double life," he said about those dissatisfied with their jobs. "Your real feelings are that you want to leave the job. Your real behaviors are you’re taking action to leave. But at work you’re hiding your real behaviors and real feelings."